The present invention relates to band saws in general, and more particularly to improvements in band saws which can be utilized with advantage for cutting carcasses or the like. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in band saws of the type wherein an endless band-like blade is trained over several pulleys, wherein at least one of the pulleys is movable toward and away from the other pulley or pulleys to thereby relax the tension upon or to tension the blade, and wherein a portion of one reach of the blade is twisted so that it is located in a plane which is at least substantially normal to the axes of the pulleys.
A band saw of the above outlined character is disclosed in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 31 23 439. The band saw which is disclosed in this publication lacks suitable means for facilitating rapid and convenient replacement of a worn or damaged blade with a fresh blade. Since the useful life of the blade is rather short, such replacement must be carried out at frequent intervals and, in the absence of any means for permitting rapid, effortless and convenient replacement of a spent or damaged blade with a fresh blade, the intervals of idleness of the band saw are rather long which is especially undesirable when the implement is used in a production line wherein each stoppage of the band saw entails an interruption of operation of the entire line. One of the reasons why the replacement of a spent or damaged blade with a fresh blade takes up a rather long interval of time is because the blade must be tensioned when in actual use and the tension upon the blade must be relaxed or reduced to zero before the blade can be slipped off the pulleys.